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2009 English Student Awards

 

Tiffany Moncrief was honored as the 2009 Outstanding English Major, joining other award winners from all areas of study at the annual English Department Awards Ceremony on April 16 in Joseph T. Taylor Hall. 

 

Department Chair Dr. Thom Upton welcomed the audience and Senior Lecturer Terry Kirts introduced the featured speaker,  Alumnus Amy Pettinella, who graduated from this department with Highest Distinction in 2000.  Pettinella encouraged current English majors to explore the many options their degrees afford them, illustrating her point with anecdotes from her work in publishing, government, and pharmaceuticals.  She has also turned her hand to acting and to work as a playwright with a fantasy/drama about Edgar Allan Poe, Nevermore, that premiered at the Indianapolis Theater Fringe Festival in August 2009.

 

The afternoon’s awards honored all manner of activities related to English studies.  Tiffany Moncrief’s interest in ethnic and minority literature has led her to community service that she hopes to make her life work.  A winner of the Sarah Jamison Keller Scholarship, she is a member of Alpha Sigma Lambda, the national honor society for non-traditional students and has taught business writing and written for community publications during her academic career.

 

"IUPUI is the fourth college I’ve attended since 1996," Moncrief says. "But my time here has been unlike any other, because every one of my teachers believed in me and made me special: they lifted me up to new heights."

 

Winners in established essay contests included Gretchen Tressler with "S/Mothering the Carribean Immigrant: Selvon’s The Lonely Londoners as a Psychoanalytic Case Study" for the Peter Bassett Barlow Prize.  Clyde William Strickland won the Joan and Larry Cimino Award for Excellence in Intercultural Communication with his thesis, "Grant proposal writing: A case study of an international postdoctoral researcher;" Sonya Lakey won the Cimino award for a paper with "Making the case for credits for English for Academic Purposes courses."

 

The 2009 Essay Award went to Sarah Kay Pendleton for "High Heels and After Shave: Marketing insecurity and self image issues across gender lines," while the Hal Tobin First-Year Writing Award was presented to Stephanie Harris for "What We Conceal:  To Hide or Reveal."

 

Three students received recognition for excellence in the department’s various areas of concentration:  Angel Anderson in Literature, Bridget Brown in Linguistics, and Tess Saunders in Film Studies.  Anderson credits Dr. Karen Kovacik for instruction that aided her achievement. " Not only did we learn basic definitions for literature," she says,  "but the citations within poetry and other writings have been helpful in all my classes, and of course, for grad school."

 

Creative writers collected many awards. Jaclyn H. Lutzke received both the Marianne Hedges Award for Excellence in Poetry and an Honorable Mention for two of her poems; Amanda Van Dreumel also earned an Honorable Mention.  The Mary Louise Rea Short Story Award was presented to Christine Welman with Honorable Mention to Joseph Parker, Kermet Key, and Adam Kelm.

 

The Rebecca Pitts Fiction Award went to Kermet Key with Honorable Mention to Joseph Parker and Christine Welman.  Andrew Polley won the Rebecca Pitts Poetry Award; Kylie Fallowfield and Karen D. Mitchell earned Honorable Mention. 

 

Like other award winners, Polley praises his professors:  "IUPUI has some of the best writing and English professors I’ve ever met. The English Department, specifically, is unmatched; I would take it over IU Bloomington any day."

 

Brandy Welin won the Creative Writing Fiction Award with Joseph Parker, Nora Kulkarni, and Natalie Robinson receiving Honorable Mention. The Creative Writing Nonfiction Award was presented to Ashley Davis with Nora Unverzagt and Lida Rogers earning Honorable Mention. The Creative Writing Poetry Award went to Margy Stoner ; Tyler Laughlin took an Honorable Mention.

 

Jacob Sunderlin was named Outstanding Writing Fellow, and Kermet Key was recognized for his leadership as English Club President. 

 

Event Organizer Terry Kirts,who was pleased with the ceremony offered historical perspective. "We give many more awards now than in years past," he says.  "This event should acknowledge all of the efforts of our students in this great, diverse, and talented department.  We’ve also tried to make the gathering a more social event where faculty, students, and family can meet and enjoy each others’ company outside of the classroom."

 

SLA News Bureau, 2009

 

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Former Spotlights

 

Jeremy Nyhuis—English Education Graduate 

Tiffany Kyser—Graduate student in English 

Ashley Mack—Senior in English